It’s the most Good time of the year

Last December when I was in New York to moderate part of Designism 2.0, I stumbled into a tiny storefront on Mulberry Street where Good had set up shop for the month. Although I was only in NY for the week, I found myself there twice more in that short period of time: There was always something going on, which always happened to be completely different from the night before, yet seemed to attract the same kind of creative-cool crowd who always seem to crop up at Good’s events.

Back on their home turf (in case you didn’t know, they’re based in LA), the good people at Good have moved into an awesome new space on Melrose (it’s actually the old offices of Rios Clementi Hale) and they’re opening up the ground floor as a permanent installation/exhibition/gathering/partying space for the community. And to kick it all off, they’ve planned a series of installations/exhibitions/gatherings/parties called Good December. You can see the whole calendar, which includes field trips, a “local world’s fair,” collaborations with groups like 826 LA (where I volunteer) and conversations about food, energy and transportation. It’ll be just like going to the most killer office holiday party in town except it lasts for two weeks and everyone in the whole city is invited.

The smart and sassy masterminds behind Good December, Kyla Fullenwider and Jenn Su, tapped me to help curate two design events for the space, and I hope you’ll come to one or both. Next Monday, December 8, de LaB will present City Listening, a night of readings by local design and architecture writers. We have so many amazing people who are going to read their stories about Los Angeles. You can RSVP for that by emailing us at delab AT gelatobaby.com or just RSVP over on Facebook.

And then, on Thursday, December 18, I’m co-hosting GOOD Design: LAwith Casey Caplowe, the magazine’s creative director. We’ve asked the best and brightest from the local design community—people like Barbara Bestor, Materials & Applications, Stefan Bucher, Artecnica, Space Collective, Frances Anderton—to come up with solutions to LA’s biggest problems. We can’t wait to see what they come up with. That’s 7-10pm and you can RSVP here.

Everything is free and open to the public, so if you’re in the neighborhood, don’t forget to drop into the Good Space anytime from 11am-5pm from December 5-19 or RSVP for any of the evening events. All details are here and I hope to see you there!

Read my articles elsewhere

I regularly write about design, architecture, cities, transportation and walking for several publications. You can read my latest and greatest stories below, or clicking on the publication will take you to all my articles for that publication. You can also read my favorite stories from 2013, 2012, 2011 and 2010.

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Check out our next de LaB

Design East of La Brea is a monthly design event I co-host with Haily Zaki, Marissa Gluck and Erin Cullerton. Almost always east of La Brea. Learn more about past de Labs and sign up for our monthly newsletter.

Walk this way

Los Angeles Walks is a new pedestrian advocacy organization that's focused on making walking safe, accessible and fun for all Angelenos. Sign up for our mailing list and join us at an upcoming event to share your ideas or take a walk with us.

Climb some stairs

Join me and some of LA's most interesting people for The Big Parade, an annual 40-mile walk through Los Angeles over the city's many public stairways. Read about this year's walk, or come along for a practice walk (sometimes hosted by me), which take place throughout the year.

Listen to DnA: Design and Architecture

Tune in to DnA: Design & Architecture, the KCRW show hosted by Frances Anderton on the third Tuesday of every month, where I'm an associate producer. For local design events, check out the DnA calendar.

Bring GOOD Ideas for Cities to your city or school

An initiative funded in part by ArtPlace, GOOD Ideas for Cities asks creatives to create solutions to urban problems proposed by city leaders, and present the results at lively public forums. Read more about this program I co-founded with GOOD's Casey Caplowe and how you can get involved.